August 23, 2014

Got up early this morning with intentions to “ride by” the Vermont state capital in Montpelier, VT.  We made a couple of quick pictures outside our hotel with the “bears” of the area.

 

 

It is a beautiful capital and the flowers are beautiful also. 

As we were on the front steps we noticed a statue of Ethan Allen.  The only thing I knew about Ethan Allen was that there is a furniture store chain with that name.  We learned that he is much respected in Vermont for having led one of the main battles in the Revolutionary War.

 Although we did not plan a tour, the doors opened and a very nice, knowledgeable gentleman invited us in for a tour.  We wound up being there over an hour but it was well worth it. 

First we learned how to pronounce Montpelier – it is pronounced Mont-peal- le-er.  We learned that legislature representatives and senators in Vermont are paid only $600 a year because they want a “citizens” legislature.  They still have manual voting for/against laws and there is no automation of any kind in the senate or representative meeting rooms.  There were portraits of prior governors (which have to be paid for by the governor – not by the state) and there was a portrait of one woman in the governor’s office.  She was an artist who had moved her gallery from NY to Montpelier and had the “Red Stone” building built for the state. 

 We left there heading to Bennington, VT.  Along the way we stopped in a small town, Middlebury, VT, which appeared interesting.  It really was.  I did a little shopping in some neat shops and we again found a pretty waterfall.  This one had a walking bridge where you could really get a good view of the waterfall.  There was also a beautiful church but we could not get too close because they were having a wedding and the lawn was full of guests.  This town provided a neat “rest period.” 

 
 

 

As we continued to drive, we saw some really unusual items and beautiful roadside. 

 

 

Arriving in Bennington we found a small hotel with vacancies which was reasonably priced and very clean.  I called Bobby Austin, a member of our church, to get information regarding the Bennington church that our church had supported.  Several years ago, Bobby and his wife, Stella, moved to Bennington for three years to spearhead the total restoration of an old, stone church in Bennington.  Our church supported this effort with funds, prayers and several mission group trips.  Bobby gave me the information regarding the church (Capstone Baptist) and the pastor (Phil Steadman).  Bobby gave me general directions and we wanted to go by the church before it got dark.  I called the pastor to confirm worship times and we headed to the church.  Shortly after we arrived, the pastor and his wife drove up.  They took us on a tour of the church, expressing how much Bobby and Stella meant to the church and its restoration.  The pastor also expressed the support he received from Pastor Edwin (from our church.)  James and I were really impressed with the restoration and were glad that our church could provide help in that process. 

 

 Bobby also recommended we go to a service station across from our hotel and view the old cars.  We plan that for tomorrow.   It has been a full day.

Aug 22, 2014

– Another day that we planned to be an uneventful driving day from New Hampshire to Montpelier, Vermont (the capital of Vermont.)   What a wonderful drive.  First, the leaves are beginning to change which, according to people who lived there, is not a good sign.  They are worried about an early, cold, long winter.  I hope their fears are not confirmed.  But, for us, it was nice to begin to see a little color in the trees.

 

 

Our first, unplanned stop, was Dog Mountain.  We didn’t know anything about it but saw a sign on the road and decided to ride up the side road and see what it was about.

 

Well – what a stop – if you are a dog lover.  An artist, who loves dogs, bought the 100+ acres and has turned it into a place where dogs can come and run free, families can have “dog parties” or groups can come and have picnics and brings their dogs to run and play.  The artist, Stephen Huneck, has his home there and has a gallery with many of his books and art for sale.

 

He also has built a chapel, dedicated to the lives of pets.  The stained glass windows each feature the profile of a dog, the pews in the chapel have ends that are dogs carved from different types of wood, and the walls are covered with notes from pet owners often attached to a picture of their pet.

 

 

Being a dog lover this was very wonderful.  One of the quotes from the artist, states that the Dog Chapel is the greatest accomplishment of his life.  You can read more about this, and see many of his books, at his web site:

www.dogmt.com

.  If there are young children in your life who love dogs, I highly recommend his books about “Sally.”  Our next stop was Lancaster, New Hampshire which, again, had beautiful old buildings downtown.

 

 

 

Nearby we stopped at “The Farmer’s Daughter” gift shop who also had some animals, including lamas.  James just had to get his picture made on a “Thomas Train” handmade engine. 

Later we came upon a “sugar shack” which is where maple syrup is made.  After talking to the people in that area, we learned this is still the way maple syrup is made.  It is not in large factories, as I expected.  Small farms grow the sugar maple trees and get the sap in the spring.  They then boil the syrup off in these sugar shacks.  This is amazing. 

Driving on we saw an amusement park, Santa’s Village, which was absolutely covered up.  School still hasn’t started in this area but summer is running short and folks are taking advantage of the last few days of summer. 

As we passed the Vermont state sign, nearing Montpelier, we talked about what a great “driving day” this has been.   

Aug 21, 2014

– WONDERFUL DAY.  After talking to a few people about the advantages/disadvantages of taking the train to the top of Mt. Washington vs driving the auto road to the top, we decided to drive.  The advantages of driving were that we could stop when we pleased and we could stay at the top for as long as we wanted to.  The train, naturally, doesn’t stop going up and you have one hour at the top and then you must go back down on the next train.  The drive up was dramatic since the road was 2 lane and barely wide enough in some places for two cars to meet.  There are no guardrails and the drop off is dramatic. Even so, it was wonderful and we did stop several times and admire the view. 

 
The time at the top is indescribable.  It was wonderful.  The view was absolutely beautiful.  This is the highest point east of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina. 

 It also has extreme weather.  We learned that the highest wind EVER recorded on earth was recorded at this weather station.  It was as strong as a category 5 hurricane. 

 We also learned that during the winter the weather people have to go outside and knock the ice from the weather instruments.  To do so they must be sure that every bit of their body is covered because frost bite can hit immediately.  We also saw how the weather people lived in the 1900’s in a building called the Tip-top house. 

 

They now have much better facilities, underground.  They work 8 days on and 6 days off.  In the winter they are brought back and forth to the station in a snow-cat since the roads are not cleared of snow.  They told us to notice the markers on the road side as we went back down – these markers (some 10 feet tall) are used to show where the road actually is.  While we were there I called Stacey.  She was trying to clean out her car and the temperature was 100 degrees in the shade and she was miserable.  It didn’t help when I told her I was cold since the temperature was 49 with a wind chill of 45.  I think she hung up on me!  We stayed on the top of the mountain approximately 2 hours – I sure am glad we didn’t take the train!  On the way down we stopped several times to cool the brakes and they still got hot.  The incline is very sharp – much sharper than the road in the Smokies.  It is also 8 miles from top to bottom and there are no straight, flat runs. 

 
When we got back to the hotel we took some time and made pictures with the beautiful flowers they have. 

 

 

This is an extremely nice motel that has not only been kept up – it has been modernized with indoor pool and a wonderful, beautiful restaurant. 

The fact that it is adjacent to a real nice golf course has helped with its business over the years and we heard several golf groups checking in for the weekend. This has been a great day and is one of those unplanned stops.

Aug 20, 2014

– Today we left Bangor, Maine headed to Vermont.  We took a 2 lane highway, much like Highway 31 used to be.  The roadside through Maine was beautiful.  We began to notice something different on the farmhouses.  For many of these homes, the barn is attached!

 

As we thought about why it would be that way we came to the conclusion that it was necessary in the hard cold winter days and nights.  It makes sense that you wouldn’t want to “go outside” in snow and freezing weather to feed the cows or horses.  We also noticed several churches in the small communities.

 

We eventually came to a beautiful town named Rumford.  The old buildings were absolutely beautiful and we wondered if any of the people who lived in that area really appreciated the buildings in their town.

 

 

We then went to the Welcome Center of that town and the volunteer even made our picture with a Paul Bunyan statue. 

He also made sure that we visited the Rumford Falls which he said were absolutely beautiful when the water level was extremely high.  We thought it was pretty now, even though the water is being used for electrical production. 

The volunteer also gave us a lot of information about an area that we were approaching (which is in New Hampshire.)  After reviewing the information we decided that we needed to spend the night in New Hampshire!  He recommended we stay at the Country Inn near Mt. Washington.  He thought we would enjoy seeing Mt. Washington and that we might want to take the train to the top of the mountain.  A good day on the road.